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It’s a like!

I’ve never found myself entirely comfortable when presenting to a room full of faces. Happy, smiley or otherwise.

Group presentations in my line of business are commonplace and more often than not I surprise myself by enjoying the experience. By enjoying I mean I find myself ‘in the zone’ and the message is invariably safely delivered. Most of the time …

I have become accustomed to the nature of my business.

Accustomed to, not complacent.

What is my opinion on that single-most important element of presentation? When I’m asked ‘what is it I need to do to ‘make people like me, how do I get them to hear what I have to say.’

OK, now, we could talk about the emotional element of engagement here, although …

We could even discuss our own personal SEO … moving on.

Let’s be clear. It’s not about being ‘liked’ or the necessity of spilling our entire ‘back catalogue’ upon first engagement with others. Leave this to the fraternity of social media worry-guts.

It’s my view we ought to be spending more of our conscious efforts on educating for empowerment while leaving the generalisation and the ‘overkill’ in the bottom draw.

If we are passionate about the task of engagement, if we really care and respect our audience, understanding that those key people in the room, on hearing our salient message are then able to work on our behalf. Being specific really does pay off.

The ‘like factor?’ Concentrate on the empowerment first up and leave the instant stuff for those inhabiting a different sphere of ‘engagement’ altogether.